Note to Self

Poor Nolan has a cough (likely the result of allowing him to crawl all over two Thai airports and two planes followed by letting him feed himself snacks - I know, Dave and I should be locked up), and so nighttime has been rough for us the past couple nights.  Last night he we were up from 10pm - 1:30am together, which was no fun.  As I rocked him and pleaded with him to go to sleep, I thought about our day and how darn cute he is.  It [almost] made it ok.

This view is the best toy ever.  Nolan is mesmerized by the cars going by the winding roads below us, the boats on the sea and the kids playing in our pool. 

Honestly, it's by far the best toy in the house. 

I hope he is always this excited to see me. 

Or even this excited works too.  (On a side note, I think Dave owns this exact same outfit.  On another side note, I would love to turn our guest room into a playroom and get rid of all this CLUTTER!)

Steps!!!!  For a few weeks Nolan has been taking steps every day, but he's not a full-time walker just yet.  His record is 21 steps, and he knows to stand anytime we say "Up!!!".  We cheer for him every time he walks....which usually makes him so happy that he loses his balance and falls. 

If you hadn't guessed from the pics, Nolan and I had an afternoon together while Fin and Carmelita went to a playdate with Fin's friend Claudia and her family's helper.  I think the best thing about having Carm under our roof is the fact that even though I have two kids, I get plenty of one-on-one time with each of them.  And how could you NOT want plenty of alone time with this kid?

In case you wanted to see a shot of Fin, this is following Claudia and Archie's 4th birthday bash today...the party was complete with a magician who makes balloon animals AND someone who paints faces.  And yes, the Cinderella costume is worn every single day.  And yes, it was about a million degrees out but she still wanted to wear long-sleeves.  I choose my battles.  This wasn't one of them.

Monday

We got back from Krabi Sunday night, and took advantage of the gorgeous weather and no work (!!!) on Monday.  We spent the morning swimming at the American Club....honestly, it was a glorious day. 

On our walk home, I felt compelled to take a photo of this tree.  They're in bloom all over our neighborhood and just beautiful. 

Krabi/Nolan Turns One!!!!

A few weeks ago, we realized that Nolan's birthday fell on the same weekend as the Dragon Boat Festival (a public holiday, which means a day off work for Dave).  My frugal husband has been saving his United miles for years, and we've been redeeming them like crazy since moving to Hong Kong.  Anyway, we decided to take Nolan to Krabi for his first birthday....just because we thought he would enjoy it.  We're such selfless parents.

We got into town Thursday and woke up with a one-year old boy Friday morning!  Balloons, presents and snuggling in bed is how we kicked off the day.

Then we headed out to check out the beautiful hotel grounds.  It's actually low season in Krabi - so while Sept/Oct are the rainiest months, June isn't the driest time to go.  Luckily, Mother Nature was kind enough to only let it rain when we were inside for Nolan's naps.  The rest of each day was filled with sunshine and awesomeness.

We swam. 

And had the beautiful beaches all to ourselves.... 

We rediscovered the fact that Nolan has mad love for the Pacific Ocean. 

And so where better to enjoy his special day???

We witnessed our kids playing together on the beach for the first time (and fighting over the green bucket). 

Three Thai women sang Happy Birthday to Nolan and pinched his chubby cheeks. 

We saw beautiful, beautiful beaches (and cursed these darn kids for keeping us from taking a day-long excursion to some even more beautiful, more secluded beaches.  Sigh.) 

We celebrated a three-year old managing to keep the same pair of shades for over a year (no small feat since we wear them year round). 

And then we came back to HK and climbed on/opened a couple more presents.  All in all, a successful weekend.  Traveling with two young children isn't always easy, but we feel extremely fortunate to be able to see some really cool places and to be able to share these experiences with Finley and Nolan.  We really loved Krabi - so if you ever have the chance to visit Thailand, check it out!